This year marks the 20th anniversary of Tim McGraw’s first album. But the country singer says he never has been the type to reflect on the past. He’d rather focus on what’s up around the bend.

We caught up with McGraw to talk about “Two Lanes of Freedom,” his 12th studio album, which hit the country charts at No. 1 this year and sent two songs to the top of Billboard’scountry-airplay chart.

Question: What appealed to you about “Two Lanes of Freedom” as an album title?

Answer: It was on the first day in the studio, and when we laid that track down, it really sort of set the tone for the entire album — the whole feel, sonically, and the spirit that it had. So it just sort of raised its hand and waved and sort of claimed the title track, I guess.

Q: You kind of bookend the album with songs about the road — “Two Lanes of Freedom” and “Highway Don’t Care.” Was that intentional?

A: It wasn’t intentional at first. And then, the more we started putting the tracks together, the more it just made sense. There’s really not an esoteric explanation I can give (laughs).

Q: How did Taylor Swift and Keith Urban come to be on “Highway Don’t Care”?

A: Friends of mine, the Warren Brothers, were two of the writers, and when they first played me that song, without hesitation, right off the bat, those are the two artists that I knew I wanted to put on the record. And they both jumped right in, no problem. The great thing about modern technology is I just e-mailed it over to those guys and they put their parts on and sent it back to me. It’s so easy and it’s such a magical record having them on it, it’s crazy that you can do it that way.

Q: What do you look for in a song when you’re putting an album together?

A: I don’t really have criteria, except that there has to be sort of a visceral reaction to it. You’ve got to open yourself up and play it and just hope it pushes your buttons. I can’t go in looking for a particular thing. I just have to put the song on and it either hits me or it doesn’t, because if it doesn’t move me, how’s it going to move anyone else?

Q: Do you find that acting has had any impact on how you approach songs at all?

A: I think they’ve probably helped each other in some sense. They’re sort of kissing cousins, in a way. When you’re singing a song in the studio and you’re in the vocal booth, you turn all the lights off and maybe have some candles lit or something. You’re trying to set a mood. What you try to do in every song is you try to play the main character and sort of walk through that song as if it were a movie. So I guess it helps in that respect.

Q: Watching the video to “Highway Don’t Care,” it felt like, “Well, this is a guy with some acting experience,” you know?

A: The toughest thing when I did my first movie was that I had spent a lot of years being in music videos where you’re always looking at the camera. That’s the one thing as an actor that you don’t want to do. You can ruin a scene by looking at the camera. So that was probably the toughest thing I had to do as an actor as opposed to a singer doing videos (laughs).

Q: This is your first record since leaving Curb, the label you were signed to since the start of your career, for Big Machine. Does it feel like the start of a new chapter in your career?

A: It feels good. In a lot of ways, I feel like I’m just getting started. I’m just now starting to have my feet under me and knowing what it is that I’m doing. I’m just starting to get good at it.

Q: This year is the 20th anniversary of your first album. Did that have you feeling reflective at all?

A: No. I’m not a very reflective person. I’m always looking forward. My head’s always in new songs and what the next album is going to sound like.

Q: What about the immediate past? Did you think of “Emotional Traffic” at all when you were working on this record?

A: The only time I really listen to my stuff is before I go into the studio. I’ll go back and listen to the last record I made. The reason I do that is because while I’m making the record and while I’m mixing it, I always make little notes of things I didn’t like, things I would change and improve on, how I can use this as a stepping stone to the next record. So I’ll go back and listen because it reminds me, “Oh yeah, I wanted to take this tone and tweak it a little bit for the next record.” Every record is a building block for me.

Q: What was the takeaway when you did that with “Emotional Traffic”?

A: I think it was a great bridge record for me. It was a time when I was experimenting with sounds of things that I wanted to step forward with. And it’s still one of my favorite records that I’ve ever made. It was a way for me to sort of discover some new sounds. And it really created a platform for me to make “Two Lanes of Freedom.”

Q: There is some interesting stuff going on in the song “Two Lanes of Freedom.” What is that?

A: There’s some hurdy-gurdy in there. There’s some didgeridoo. It’s got a real Celtic sort of feel to it.

Q: How would you say you’ve changed as an artist in the course of 20 years?

A: I think I’m always wanting to grow as an artist. I’m always striving to get better. That’s the main thing I’m trying to do with every record, every night when I perform, every time I sing. I’m always working on my craft to try to be better than I was last time.

Q: As someone who always wants to move forward and doesn’t like reflecting, how do you feel about doing the older material in concert?

A: I’ve got to remember what music does for me when I listen to my favorite songs that I’ve heard over the years, songs that sort of mark time in my life. That’s what music does. So when you’re performing, you have to remember that what you do in your songs will make people remember times in their lives. It creates memories for them. So you have to remember you’re doing them for the fans.

Q: What’s the best part of performing live at this point?

A: Just the instant reaction that you get. And the energy you get from playing with the band. On nights when everything just sounds great and the band’s really into it and everything is crystal clear, those are the nights where it’s a high you can’t get anywhere else.

Reach the reporter at ed.masley@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4495. Twitter.com/EdMasley.

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